Messages - Nimmy

Haven't posted here in several years, but I figure this is the kind of place to ask for opinions and advice. I'll start with a little background on my situation.

I graduated from law school about 5 years ago and found legal work to be pedantic, boring, and soul crushing. It's really just not for me at all. I made the decision to join the military for a number of reasons and have been hiding out here for a few years. I've deployed overseas, held leadership positions at a low level, and as a result of my service I get to use the Post 9/11 GI Bill. It makes sense to me to go back to school after my commitment ends because it's free and I can get a fresh start at something else while using my law degree and military experience to give me a leg up from my peers.

The reason I'm posting here is because I really have no idea what kind of program or degree I should be looking at. I don't want to spend years and years in school, so it would probably be some kind of 2 years masters program, but beyond that I don't know. The sort of thing I want to get out of this new degree is that the program has lots of connections with companies where I can work internships while in school and that the industry is something that will be relevant for the next few decades with actual job prospects. I am not trying to get a useless fine arts degree; academia is not my goal.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I guess the really obvious answer would be some kind of Public Policy degree at one of the better DC schools, but does anyone have other ideas?

I interviewed with a few smaller firms for 1L summer, and I heard "We don't care about grades all that much, we're much more concerned about fit with the firm." Which sucked for me because I probably had better grades than the other people they were interviewing; guess I just wasn't their type (plus, just about every 1L in the city was interviewing for the same jobs). Either way, don't get discouraged about grades if you want to work at a small firm, because as long as you're competent and hard working, grades aren't all that important.

My school doesn't really have any required classes after 1L except for Evidence and Professional Responsibility. For first semester 2L I have chosen to take easy sounding classes like the law of privacy, law and social change, law and popular culture, and of course... International Law.

Any idea where a 3.6 at CLS would put you (clearly I don't go there)? What is the median GPA roughly? In the end I suppose it really doesn't matter, I'll end up where I end up, but it would be nice to have some info until I find out at the end of the summer.....that's a long time to sit and ponder.

Apply and find out. You obviously have a compelling reason to be in Boston aside from the prestige of HLS.

well I applied tonite. I came to UM with no intention to transfer if I couldn't get into a top 20 at least. I am expected to get rejected and I don't really care. I'll be happy as hell if they take me, but I am not expected it and I'm not gonna shed any sleep thinking about it. So I guess I'll wait and see, but I am gonna be damn suprised if they take me.

I'm surprised you want to leave Miami. I turned it down for a lower ranked T2 to be closer to family and I regretted it all winter with the record breaking snowfall. Miami has some great firms, and is a great place to live, and with good grades presumably you'll be able to land a great job. As far as I can tell from last year's 1L class, my first semester grades are JUST outside top 10% (as in, if Crim law was 4 credits instead of 3, I'm in), but I'm not even considering transferring at this point. What's the hurry, and especially to leave such a great city?

Anecdotally, I remember reading somewhere that WUSTL takes a hard look at anyone in the top third, so don't beat yourself up, you have a good shot.

I swear you people are so high strung. Who cares if you don't look up a term before class? I saw this happen once or twice in all of 1L. And even if you are the poor sap that is called on, what happens if you can't answer? NOTHING! Grading is blind and based on final exams. Socratic method is the last thing you should ever worry about.

Come on, nobody wants to look stupid in class even if it has no impact on your grade. Regardless, looking up an unknown term can be helpful to understanding the case you're reading.

Never bothered me. I never prepped for class - only for exams. And yes, there was more than one occasion where I looked like a dumbass in class. Maybe every occasion?

Some of my responses:"got me?""sorry, i don't know where your going with this""what are you asking?""yeah, i saw the case used three tests, i didn't think the court was very clear what the deal was""right, i'm not sure, but the gist of the case is this..."

I never got stumped, but that's because I volunteer for short easy questions that I know the answer to. Then the professor is less likely to "want to hear my voice" when he needs to pick on someone. Torts and Crim law were really my only classes that used a true socratic method, but Crim you knew when you were on call, and Torts had heavily edited cases in the casebook, so if you highlighted the important parts and wrote a few things in the margins, you were fine.

Hahaha, did my extremely apathetic post get deleted? Seriously, law school isn't a big deal.